After searching the archives, I'm at the "might as well" stage. I noticed a grinding type of noise from the Front Right (passenger) wheel during a left turn and I suspect the wheel bearings are going. It only seems to happen at 20 MPH and above. I was also thinking of resurfacing rotors and putting new brake pads as long as I'm going. Are there any other parts I should look at for wear as well?
Should all four corners of the brake pads be done at the same time? How about the wheel bearings- all four as well? If the front inner and outer bearings are bad is it about time to do the rears as well?
I'm at about 120K miles..

 

bump.
Man that was fast- down to page 2 in a matter of hours!!

 

I'm going to do my front pads here in the next week or so, and I was planning on repacking the bearings. Is this very hard? I know how to pack bearings, but what about getting them in and out?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Chris_924s:
<strong>Should all four corners of the brake pads be done at the same time?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Nope, you don't have to do all 4 at the same time. Just as long as you do them as a set, you can do the front independently of the rears. In fact the fronts will usually wear much faster than the rear and will consequently have to be changed more often.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica"><strong>How about the wheel bearings- all four as well? If the front inner and outer bearings are bad is it about time to do the rears as well?
I'm at about 120K miles..</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">As with the break pads the front wheel bearing will most likely go quite a bit earlier than the rears. Also the rear bearing are much more difficult to do yourself. Make sure that with the fronts you heat up the hubs before pressing out the old races, and then freeze the new races and again heat up the hub before pressing in the new races.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by sharky47:
<strong>I'm going to do my front pads here in the next week or so, and I was planning on repacking the bearings. Is this very hard? I know how to pack bearings, but what about getting them in and out?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Getting the hub off is fairly easy. Once you get the brake and rotor off, there will be a hub pinch nut with a allen bolt that "pinches" the nut. You need to loosen the allen bolt, unscrew the retainer nut, and the hub will pull off. The inner bearing is kept in place with a grease seal that you will have to destroy to get off so make sure you have some new ones. Clean and repack like a normal bearing. Set the new grease seal with a piece of wood and a hammer.

Once you get the hub back on with the thrust washer you need to thread back on the retainer nut and tighten in the correct amount which is the tricky part. Basically you want to tighten the nut until you can just move the thrust washer with a screw driver - this is per the Porsche Tech manuals believe it or not. The trick I learned is to hold the shaft of the screwdriver in your fingers, place your thumb on the hub so you can pull the screwdriver with your fingers. If the thrust washer moves real easy then it is too tight. You want the thrust washer to "snap" over when you put pressure on it. Its a lot easier to demonstrate than describe in writing but hopefully this helps. Once you have the nut set, tighten the allen pinch bolt and away you go.

 

Thanks Skip! I'll try and tackle this tomorrow or the next day. I'll post pics of the process as well..

 

after pulling off the front wheel- I couldnt notice any noise that sounded like bearings going bad. Is it possible I would only hear this under load during a turn?? The a-arms, bushings and controls all seem to be tight with no slop.

 

Chris, the front bearings might also be a bit loose but not shattered or scored. Mine clicked a bit on the S2 and tightening them solved the problem.

The rears are another matter entirely.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Chris_924s:
<strong>after pulling off the front wheel- I couldnt notice any noise that sounded like bearings going bad. Is it possible I would only hear this under load during a turn?? The a-arms, bushings and controls all seem to be tight with no slop.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Very possible, I didn't completely read all your posts but did you do the wheel shake test... jack it up and grab both sides and see if there is play in the wheel. This is also another way of indicated bad bearings or at least dry ones.

Again to restate what the someone above stated, don't have to do front and back together (bearings or pads) just do them by axle (fronts together and rears together) and yes it is normal for the fronts go prior than the rears.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Chris_924s:
<strong>after pulling off the front wheel- I couldn't notice any noise that sounded like bearings going bad. Is it possible I would only hear this under load during a turn?? The a-arms, bushings and controls all seem to be tight with no slop.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Chris,

Yes if they are just starting to go bad then they may only make noise under load. It may be worth just repacking them, properly tighten them and then see how it goes. Luis is right in that if they are loose they can be noisy. Make sure if you repack them you use a synthetic grease such as Mobil 1. Its cheap $3 vs $1.5 and is far superior than the standard grease. Also if you repacked them visually inspect the bearing and race for scoring or hot spots and feel for any nicks or scoring. If you feel or see any of this then you need to replace them.